Unfortunately my 1st month of joining in on A Lovely Year of Finishes is a bust!

It isn't that I didn't want to reach my goal of sewing the binding onto the front of Jammer's 100 Good Wishes Quilt. In truth, I was really looking forward to making progress to finally get this one off the unfinished pile.

But....a nasty cold that I caught right after Christmas that over 2 1/2 weeks kept me miserable and then morphed into a sinus infection really put a big kink in any sewing mojo for half of the month. Then there was some focusing on getting caught up, normal work stuff, spending the past afternoons with 24 first graders reading books to them about TET and Chinese New Year and then completing a dragon puppet craft project and lastly helping a friend finish moving today...well you get the idea. Not much time for sewing has even been possible.

This is all that I have to show so far.

And to be totally honest, I didn't even cut them this month. These are the strips I cut off the yardage before I cut the pieces for the backing so all I've done towards my January goal was to take them out of their storage spot. Big whoop!

The month isn't officially over yet so after Sunshine's gymnastics class this afternoon, I'm going to attempt to actually complete this binding and do then a Snoopy dance. If I'm so fortunate, I'll update this post and join in the linky party hosted over at Fiber of All Sorts and Sew Bittersweet Designs.

If not, oh well. It might not have been in the cards for me this month. Given that half the month was spent ill, if I am able to get it done before the weekend is over, I'll consider it a success.

For our Vietnamese friends...

and for our Chinese friends...

and for all of our friends, we wish you a very happy, healthy and prosperous
Year of the Horse.

So far Penelope and I have not become the close and loving friends that I had hoped we'd become.

Though I haven't had a ton of time these past months to get used to her, the few times that I have, she has not played nice. Not nice at all. I have read and reread the manual so many times my eyes feel like they are crossed. I've made all the adjustments recommended by the manual and a friend and every recommendation that I have read on the Hinterberg Yahoo Group multiple times with no success. For the most part, this is the only thing I have to show for my attempts.

 Yuck! Lots of huge long stitches, nothing controllable and certainly nothing pretty. And if you think the top looks bad, this is what the back looks like!

Even worse! At this point, I'm seriously thinking that I have an electronics problem and if that is the case, no matter what I do to get her stitch nicely, it isn't going to work. I can't help but wonder if it was dropped or otherwise damaged when the older couple that I bought if from moved it from their basement where they had it set up to their garage where she was when I picked her up. I know that when I moved her, I was extremely careful so I'm sure that nothing that I have done since setting my hands on her has caused any problems but either way, she is sick and needs professional attention.

I just can't decide!

I don't know which ones to pick.

As I wrote on my Focus post, I'm going to try to participate more to help motivate me to get more done this year. I want to start the year off right so I'm setting my goals for January. First up is the 2014 A Lovely Year of Finishes hosted by Shanna of Fiber of All Sorts and Melissa of Sew Bittersweet Designs.

I'm committing myself to machine sewing the binding onto the front of Jammer's 100 Good Wishes Quilt.

The quilting on this has actually been done for a long time (more time than I will admit) and I put it aside to finish later. Then many other projects came up and completing the last step was forgotten, until recently that is. I really want this UFO finally finished. It is H.U.G.E., measuring 116" x 130" so there is no way I'd attempt doing the binding hand sewing onto the back at any other time of the year other than in the winter and the 1st step will be to get it machine sewn onto the front.

If I can get that part done, than I can work on the binding hand sewing onto the back during February. Sunshine's 100 Good Wishes Quilt really needs to get made this year and I want to have Jammer's 100% completely done before I start on hers.

This year I'm going to participate in Barbara of Cat Patches 2014 New FO Challenge. Hopefully this will help me get my long awaited projects actually started and the A Lovely Year of Finishes will help me to get them done.
My New FO for January will be to make something with these Always and Forever charms. My plans for them have changed multiple times but I needed to stop thinking and start doing.

And start doing is exactly what I have done already.

Over the past recent days, while the snow storm swirled outside, I cut and sewed some of these beautiful fabrics together. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to actually get it quilted and bound before the weekend is over. Ah, who am I kidding? But I can dream, can't I and I just might surprise both you and me.

My 2nd New FO will be to get started working with these fabrics. I know...I only need one New FO but I'm adding this one anyway.
These will become an EMS/Fire Department themed quilt which will be raffled off at a work industry convention this year with the proceeds going to a charitable organization, which one to yet be decided by my employer. He is donating the fabrics and batting and I'm donating my time.

Last year I really loved seeing what everyone was doing with their scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and lord knows I have plenty of scraps to do something with so I'm going to try to participate in this during 2014.

I haven't decided what block I want to make yet each month but a few possibilities are swirling around in my head. The color for January is Blue.

So there you have it. My goals for January. Wish me luck. I sure need it.

So what do you have planned for this month?

As 2013 was closing, the kidlets and I finally got the time to make the December Primary Bee blocks.

 The Bee Princess for December is Wild Child who's mom Amy blogs over at Butterfly Angels Quilting and she requested Friendship Star blocks in Hot Pink, Black and White.

I pulled a bunch of fabric choices for the kidlets to choose from and we set to work. Jammer wasn't in the mood on Monday to sew so Sunshine went 1st. Although I did the ironing and the cutting, she was pretty good about sewing the pieces together.

The most challenging part is getting her used to where and how to hold her hands to guide the fabric correctly.

Daddy got home from work Monday evening so she wanted to take a break but she was eager to finish this up on Tuesday morning. Here she is with her finished block. She is really proud of her block and so am I.

Hi! I'm Sunshine. I learned to follow the line to make a half square triangle.

On Tuesday, once Jammer saw what Sunshine created, he really wanted to get his block made too. He picked out the fabrics that he wanted to use and like with Sunshine, I did the ironing and the cutting, but he did the rest of it (for the most part).

Again, teaching them the proper way to guide the fabric so that the seam lines come out right was the most challenging part.

To help them both practice this part more, I think I'm going to make up some pieces and let them go to town honing their seam sewing skills.

It wasn't long before Jammer's block was completed too. It certainly isn't perfect but it is pretty good for his 1st block ever.

 Hi! I'm Jammer. I learned to always pay attention to what I'm doing so that I don't mess up. 


It was evening by the time these were completed so they couldn't get mailed. The plan was to have them on their way yesterday but with the big nor-easter snow storm, there was no way I was going out of the house. They will be on their way to their new owner Wild Child this afternoon.

So this is my Whoop Whoop for this week. It is also my Finish It Up Friday, my TGIFF and my Link-A-Finish Friday and my Show Off Saturday item. No they aren't completed quilts but being able to "finish" something with the kidlets is no easy task so I think this counts just fine.

So what did you complete this week?

Like many others, I'm not one who makes resolutions either but instead pick a word or mindset to carry me through the year. My mindset for 2013 was to resist...resist buying fabric just because I only liked it and didn't absolutely LOVE it, resist joining in a ton of online bees, swaps and blog hops so that I could concentrate on my own projects and resist spending too much time sitting at the computer and actually sewing more.

So how did I do last year? Well not too bad but not what I had hoped for either. There are still a bunch of projects that I had hoped to get done last year (or at least started) that are still waiting. Blarg! I did buy fabric, probably more than I should have, but I did resit a lot of lines too. I only participated in a couple of blog hops and no online QALs, bees or swaps, other than the ones that I hosted of course.

As is typical, I started thinking about this year about 6 weeks ago and what I want to accomplish. A few months back I took on more hours at work and that just didn't work for me so I've cut it down a little again to a schedule that I think makes more sense and still gets the work done.

In 2014, I want to
FOCUS

and to go along with that word is my secondary word LEARN.

I want to quilt my own quilts and to do that I need to focus on getting to know my longarm Penelope a lot more and learn all that I can about her and the art of longarm quilting. To that end, I'm planning on attending MQX Quilt Festival-new England in April to take as many classes as possible.

I also want to focus on developing my own quilt patterns, all the ones that I have sketched out on paper and those I have floating around in my head. At some point I want to get them published, either in magazines or to sell. For my birthday a few months ago I got Electric Quilt 7 but I have yet to even load it onto my computer let alone actually use it. My focus will be to learn the program and use it to bring my pattern ideas to fruition.
I also want to learn paper piecing. MY LQS was having a class in the fall for a paper pieced winter table runner that I wanted to take but at the last minute the class was cancelled because the instructor was ill. They were going to reschedule but I don't believe that has happened yet so this year I'll be looking to see what other small project paper piecing class(s) I can find to learn this interesting technique.

Overall, this year I'm going to focus on finding a good balance between doing what I love and caring for who I love. 

I need to focus on getting fit. I'm not overweight per say but being petite, even a few extra pounds makes me really uncomfortable in my own skin. Plus the skin I have isn't anywhere near firm. So a bit of exercise is going to become part of my normal routine. I'm not the gym type and I refuse to get out to run or walk in the bad weather so I'll be inside my house most of the time. A small amount of time exercising a few days a week is certainly better than none at all and I know that seeing results will spur me to do even more.

Family has also got to be a huge focus this year. Too much of 2013 was spent running or catching up so I desperately need to get back into my normal habit of planning and prepping ahead. I don't like being behind the 8 ball. To that end, within the next few days I'll be finally sorting through the mounds of recipes that I've been saving to try and working out a 4-6 week meal plan for us. A friend did this and it sounds like the perfect idea. It will help keep us from throwing together the usual quick meals at the last minute, it will help us eat healthier, it will help us get more veggies into our diets and it will certainly help the big TIME factor. I'm really looking forward to the variety this will bring. I love to cook and can't wait to get back into it. If you have great crock pot recipes, please send them my way.

On the family front, we're also looking into some new activities opportunities for the kidlets and I'll be focusing on other things I want to get do more with/for them. Sunshine is into crafting in a big way and Santa brought lots of goodies for her to craft with. I need to make the time to do that with her. Our garden will get more attention this year and the kids are going to pick something to grow too.

I've been a cake decorator for 20+ year. Here are a few pictures of my work.
My life has been so insane these past 2 Decembers that I haven't had the time to make my own kids' birthday cakes. That isn't going to happen again this year. I can't change when they were born so our Decembers will always be really busy but if I can focus on getting the Christmas prep done earlier, I'll have the time to create the birthday cakes of their dreams.

Quilt blog land has so many wonderful people and this year I want to focus on being more in it. I think I want to perhaps participate in at least one QAL or BOM, but just one. I'm not going to join any bees this year because I'm already involved in one...The Primary Bee that I'm hosting for the young ones. I'm also going to try to participate in ongoing weekly and monthly linky parties more so that I can connect with more quilters, learn more from others and find new inspiration.

So what about my hosting plans for this year? Well I just don't know yet. Other than the ongoing Primary Bee, I have yet to decide all that I want to do this year. Absolutely YES I will be hosting the Kate Spain Charm Swap Round 2 (announcement and sign ups to start soon) but I'm not sure if there is enough interest to host a Modern Mini Mystery Round Robin 2014 or perhaps a Mini Mystery Round Robin with a theme such as Halloween or Christmas. I hope the masses will speak up and let me know what you'd like to see this year from me.

There are just a few more things I want to focus on this year.

The kids' life books and baby books are still languishing but I'm determined to make progress on this somehow. There are literally thousands of pictures printed and waiting and I'm going to make time to work on this each month.

We've been in this new house 2 3/4 years and I still have 3 rooms that aren't painted at all. In my defense, I'm waiting on hubs to get the wainscoting up in 2 of the rooms and it was only just prior to the holiday season that I found the right color for the 3rd room. The goal will be to have all of these completed before summer comes.

Quilting life wise, I hope to focus on expanding my online connections, to bring you more in the way of tutorials and giveaways and to that end I'll be contacting some companies about sponsorship opportunities. Hopefully this will turn into a Win Win situation for all of us. I'd love to do more product reviews. I'm looking forward to making some serious industry connections at MQX in April and I'm even considering trying to find a way to attend Quilt Market this spring in Pittsburgh (anyone need some booth assistance?). My ultimate goal is to leave my accounting life behind and make my quilting business my career.

So this list is plenty long enough and if you have read down this far, I thank you deeply. I knew that this would be a long post and that is why it has taken a couple of days to get it done but I really needed to get all of this out of my head and in writing so that I can really start focusing on my goals for this year. My condensed list for 2014 looks like this:

1. Penelope - learn to use her and get my own quilts done
2. MQX Quilt Festival New England - attend to learn and to make industry connections
3. Electric Quilt 7 - learn to use it to develop my patterns and get them published
4. Learn paper piecing
5. Exercise to get fit
6. Develop and use a 4-6 week meal plan
7. Craft and garden with the kids
8. Christmas prep done early, before Thanksgiving
9. Make my own kids' birthday cakes
10. Join 1 QAL or BOM
11. Participate in regular linky parties to connect more with others
12. Work on the kids' life books and scrapbooks
13. Paint 3 remaining rooms
14. Blog sponsors
15. Spring quilt market

How does that look? Too much? Maybe...but I've got to start somewhere and making a list is always the 1st thing that I do. No matter what your own plans are for 2014, I hope that you can make great huge strides this year to accomplish them.

When I thought back, I didn't think that I accomplished as much as I did but when I hunted down the photos, I was pleasantly surprised.

1. Friends Together Forever, 2. Inspiring Grand Ideas-2013 teacher quilt, 3. Modern Mini Mystery Round Robin 2013, 4. It's a Sister Thing Swap-Weighted Pincushion Organizers, 5. Be My Valentine-Quilt U Be Mine Mini Mystery Round Robin, 6. Crimson Diamonds, 7. Guiding Creative Thinkers-2013 teacher quilt, 8. Hugs From Team Joey-A 100 Good Wishes quilt, 9. Ghastlie sewing machine cover 10. Tending Young Gardens-2013 teacher quilt, 11. Paisley's Wishes-A 100 Good Wishes quilt, 12. Nurturing Young Explorers-2013 teacher quilt, 13. Dots in the Wind 14. Kids Art/Chef Apron, 15. Where's the Lorax?

Not too bad overall for the year considering all the other things that I had going on. 2014 is going to be an even better year and I'm looking forward to lots more creative time to come.

I had planned on getting this post live before 2013 was over but I literally crashed last night really early. Oh well.